PROJECT DESCRIPTION: CZR Incorporated (CZR) conducted pre-construction biological monitoring for a Bogue Inlet channel relocation project in order to provide information on coastal habitats that may be affected by channel relocation efforts. CZR’s scope included monitoring of salt marsh, bird, and macroinvertebrate/infaunal communities, as well as mapping of important natural resource habitats (i.e., SAV, shellfish) and biotic/wetland communities.
Monitoring of salt marsh communities was conducted from three 300-foot permanent monitoring transects and collection of sediment and morphometric data at each transect. Five one-meter square quadrats for each transect were sampled for stem density and height of Spartina spp. One substrate sample per quadrat location was collected to determine the organic content of the sediments. Epibenthic macroinvertebrates and wildlife along each transect corridor were documented.
The bird monitoring concentrated on shorebird and colonial waterbird use in the Bogue Inlet area. Four transects were surveyed and all birds were recorded with information on nesting, roosting, and foraging. Monitoring began in March 2003 and continued for one year. Monitoring was conducted throughout the year approximately every 10 days during the spring migration; approximately every 15 days during the breeding season; and approximately every 10 days during the fall migration, and monthly during the winter. Species of special interest included all State and Federally listed species including the piping plover and gull-billed tern, but activities of all shorebirds and colonial waterbirds observed were recorded during transect surveys.
Macroinvertebrate/infaunal monitoring concentrated on the evaluation and documentation of species in the intertidal habitats of the existing inlet, as well as three permanent transect locations in the salt marshes. Monitoring began in April 2003 and continued for one year prior to construction and for three years post-construction. Sampling occurs during the months of April, July, October, and January. Three replicate samples are collected from ten sampling stations.
Mapping of biotic community and submerged aquatic vegetation boundaries was based on interpretation of aerial photography and confirmed in the field. The extent of mapped SAV areas was confirmed using visual observations in shallow water and ponar grab sampling where the bottom was not visible.